Companies. To obtain an activity license, Iranian authorities require, among other conditions,
that all founding members and executive board members are accredited by relevant government
authorities.
While bylaws and regulations stipulate that associations can be dissolved either voluntarily or
forcibly based on the verdict of a competent court, certain government institutions, like the
Investigative Board of Cultural Centers, can dissolve associations without a court verdict.7
Consequently, the Government can legally, and easily, prevent the establishment of CSOs and
force their dissolution under the broad provisions found in the Constitution, therefore severely
restricting civil society’s space.
During its review under the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran stated that over 4,500 NGOs were registered in Iran and 171 of them
were focusing on children. 8 The Government also informed the Committee that it was working
in cooperation with NGOs, including through its National Body for the Convention on the Rights
of the Child.9
Despite these cooperation efforts, non-governmental reports suggest that the Iranian
Government continues its repression against non-governmental organisations, including those
working in the area of children’s rights, notably by forcing closure under the broad legal
provisions aforementioned. 10 11 12 13 14 In July 2020, the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights Michelle Bachelet stated that she was alarmed by the Iranian Government’s increased
pressure on the civil society group Imam Ali Popular Student’s Relief Society, working on issues
such as child labor. Iranian authorities closed the organisation and arrested its founding member
along with a number of their colleagues.15
Such evidence suggests that the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has not put an end
to repression against NGOs working in the area of children’s rights.
B. The State party should hold those responsible for harassment and persecution of
human rights activists accountable
7
See more: Volunteer Activists, Civil Society in Iran and its Future Prospects, https://volunteeractivists.nl/en/wpcontent/uploads/2018/10/Civil-Society-in-Iran-and-its-Future-Prospects-pdf.pdf
8
OHCHR News, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16940&LangID=E
9
The NBCRC is a National body overseen by the Ministry of Justice and established in 2012 to monitor the implementation of
the Convention on the Rights of the Child. See Bylaw for the National Body on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (10
January 2012), available at: http://rc.ma- jlis.ir/fa/law/show/808437.
10
Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, Children, Yet Convicted as Adults, https://www.iranrights.org/newsletter/issue/108
11
ISNA News, https://www.isna.ir/news 96070301939/ﮐﻮدک-ﮐﺎر-ﺑﺎ-اﻗﺘﺼﺎد-روﺳﯿﺎھﯽ/
12
Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://www.iranhumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/Days-to-remember-low.pdf
13
OHCHR News, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16940&LangID=E
14
Human Rights Activists News Agency, The Association to Defend the Street and Working Children Sealed, https://www.enhrana.org/association-defend-street-working-children-sealed?hilite=%27street%27%2C%27children%27
15
OHCHR News, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26141&LangID=E
2